Miami-based Australian photographer ROBERT VALENTINE, whose real name is Robert Proudfoot, describes himself as ‘old friends' with the Young brothers, Angus, Malcolm and George Young.‘I lived with the Youngs and their family in Burwood, New South Wales – 4 Burleigh Street – from about 1969 to 1972. So I kinda grew up with Malcolm and Angus, even before AC/DC.'

Allentown (PA), 17 September 1978

That was how Valentine got invited on the road with the band in America in the late 1970s and the early '80s. His candid snapshots – from 1978, especially – are valuable as they offer a rare glimpse into what it was really like backstage at an AC/DC gig before they became the biggest rock band in the world. Bon Scott appears in many of them.

Allentown (PA), 17 September 1978

‘I haven’t seen [the Youngs] now in about 25 years,' he says. ‘Just always been busy or not around when they were in town. ​I knew Bon. It was sad when he passed and now I'm sad about my good friend Malcolm in that condition.' [Malcolm has passed away since the interview was conducted. – Ed.]But in the '70s and early '80s, the Burleigh Street boys were all still close, as these intimate photos reveal.

Valentine (centre) with Angus and Malcolm, The Palladium, New York City, 1 August 1980

​‘The guy with glasses [pictured below in the Powerage T-shirt] was our friend, Ian Baragry, who we all grew up with. He lived up the street from the Youngs in Burwood.'